Tampa’s genre-bending Merchandise played Soybomb HQ in downtown Toronto on September 22. SBHQ is not a full-time venue, as it is a residential space, although it does host a fair amount of music events. A local chapter of Food Not Bombs cooks here every Sunday before serving in Allan Gardens. The space is also home to rooftop patio/garden, and a skateboard ramp which doubles as a stage. The bands play in the middle, most concave part of the ramp allowing the audience to cram in around them, as well as observe from the metal coping, normally used to drop in from. The line-up was all local, and unfortunately I missed the first two bands walking in as Mausoleum were setting up. I had never seen them before, but according to my peers, they have a fanbase of primarily Pitchfork readers. After they finished, the space filled up to the unpredictable point of any night at SBHQ where audience members stand at their threshold of the vert and eventually start slipping into a domino effect that gains force with every spilled beer.
From what I remember, they played everything off their latest release, Children of Desire, and other tracks from their previous releases: Es Muerte, Terminal Jagger Jane’s Addiction Boxset, Merchandise, Gone Are The Silk Gardens of Youth, and Strange Songs (In The Dark). Carson Cox’s beguiling voice over their gloomy tone and often poppy beats had the room dancing with a sense of urgency. The crowd confined the three members into a space smaller than the back of a tour van, propelling Cox to climb atop their gear to continue the set as an exhibitionist in the shadows of the holiday lights lining the skate ramp. I won’t speak for the audience when I say that the performance was highly ephemeral. Their latest release, to me was something that I always listened to in it’s entirety, multiple times a week since it’s leak. It was something that remained the backdrop of my commutes on foot, by transit, car, or flight. The tune to my mid-afternoon summertime lethargy. The band’s live set engages with the audience giving off an air of nostalgia for early shoegazers and “the scene that celebrates itself”. As they have stated in interviews with Pitchfork, the record is not transferrable to live music, and their sets will never fully resemble what they have recorded. They hold an authentic sentiment towards writing, recording, and playing, which makes their live sets highly temporal.
The Spring 2012 release of Children of Desire (Katorga Works) was unique to many. The trio hail from notable punk and hardcore projects in the Tampa area and are members of the DIY scene in Florida. Playing basements, storage units, and lofts is regular practice for them, although with this release they quickly gained popularity and are selling out large venues. The tour that made it to Toronto was stopping at a mix of DIY and corporate spaces, sometimes both in the same city.
Children of Desire was written with inspiration from multiple late 80’s/early 90’s post-punk, shoegaze, and noise pop groups such as The Smiths, The Jesus and Mary Chain, and My Bloody Valentine. The six track LP comes with a small, binded story made up of multiple journal entries that the lyrics are littered throughout. The title of this small piece of literature reads “Desire in the Mouth of Dogs, by one W. Marchendese”. Interviewers and reviewers have allured to this text as part of an experience that the record offers to fans, leaving digital listeners with a portion of the composed experience. Cox says in an interview with Pitchfork that, “[the band does] everything because of a premonition, because of the energy, and it’s all one idea.”
The group’s approach towards their music works to create an experience that is larger than simply notes and lyrics, but one that has listeners associating particular experiences with each track, or release.
one of the best fucking shows i’ve ever been to. bar none. so so sososososo glad they’ll be back for nxne.
